LTLFTcomposite said:
I'm not sure if you were saying my comment was juvenile.
This is from wikipedia on the FTC (and yes, I recognize this was not an FTC position, just opinions of FTC insiders, but it still seems potentially indicative):
The Bureau of Competition is the division of the FTC charged with elimination and prevention of "anticompetitive" business practices. It accomplishes this through the enforcement of antitrust laws, review of proposed mergers, and investigation into other non-merger business practices that may impair competition. Such non-merger practices include horizontal restraints, involving agreements between direct competitors, and vertical restraints, involving agreements among businesses at different levels in the same industry (such as suppliers and commercial buyers).
The FTC shares enforcement of antitrust laws with the Department of Justice. However, while the FTC is responsible for civil enforcement of antitrust laws, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice has the power to bring both civil and criminal action in antitrust matters.
Sounds pretty broad to me, but I'm not a lawyer. These franchise laws may have just flown under the radar for a long time before Tesla came along and wouldn't stop rocking the boat.
I was calling the comments made by the FTC staffers juvenile, I will repeat my statement, at this point the FTC has no jurisdiction, no power to force NJ to do anything to change their rulings. for the FTC to try and interject themselves into issue is a complete over stepping of their authority.
if you, tesla, the ftc, the tooth fairy or anyone else thinks that the laws are illegal, are not pertinent or unfair then there are remedies available.
all the caterwauling by the tesla fanboys, by these jerks at the FTC is meaningless.
the path to remedy the problem is either via the legislature or the courts. if the FTC tries to intervene they will be and should be told to go pound sand because the law as it stands in NJ is none of the feds damned business